'Free' Windows 10 Has High Cost To Windows 7 And Windows 8 Users

Excerpt from article:
"Yes, Windows 10 will be the last numbered version of the OS and going forward it will simply become a ‘Windows’ subscription service.
This upsets those who don’t like the idea of a subscription service, but the biggest concern is this: while Windows 10 will seamlessly upgrade to ‘Windows’ – this is a new beginning.
Your OS would evolve into a new product for which you have to pay.

When would this happen? Microsoft hasn’t put a date on it, but two major Windows 10 updates dubbed ‘Redstone’ (a Minecraft reference) have already been flagged for release in mid and late 2016 respectively.

Could this be ‘Windows’? Right now we don’t know, but with two years between Windows Vista (2007) and Windows 7 (2009), three years to Windows 8 (2012) and three years to Windows 10 (2015) you may be
getting pushed to a paid subscription ‘Windows’ in 2-3 years."

Last edited by satrow; 2015-05-12 at 21:47.
Reason: Removed referrer from URL.

This click baiting article and its many brethren that have been posted are pure speculation.

Joe

Your absolutely right Joe, it is speculation. BUT, I could certainly see this happening especially since MS is keeping it's silence about the direction they are headed with their product and once you click on the "free" upgrade to 10, there is no going back other than starting over on a win 7/8 machine. It kinda reminds me of the old saying about drug dealers, " the first one is free". It's a very smart move by MS marketing if this turns out to be the case.
Anyway, I just posted it for the thought value.

What option did you have if you upgraded to Win7 or Win8.1 from a prior version? What were you going back to? What's the difference now? Certainly, it is possible that Microsoft may decide to change Windows to a paid subscription service some time in the future. That is their prerogative. If that happens all their users will have a decision to make. Remember, Microsoft is under no obligation to let anyone know about direction until either they are legally obligated as a public corporation or they decide it is the correct time. Neither Microsoft nor any other large corporation has let their plans out until it is in their best interest.

Microsoft are a company that exists to make profits for itself and its shareholders. Many people on this forum seem to think that MS should give everything away for free and not make a profit. You don't see anyone criticising Ford or General Motors for making a profit (assuming they do). Actually, it would seem to me that MS sell you (actually I think they only licence it to you) an operating system and all upgrades/bug fixes etc and supplied free for a predetermined period - which period is far longer than Apple or Linux give you.

Indeed, I'm surprised about how many free or low cost programs there are out there for Windows users; does Apple have any? (this isn't rhetorical, I don't actually know). Linux has many free programs (are there programs that cost on Linux?).

If MS decides to move to a subscription service (a big if at the moment) then any of us not liking it can move to other OSs (with all the issues that could cause). Going to Apple could cost you a lot, going to Linux is a minefield, not because it's a poor system but because of all the choice there is - which could confuse many PC users.

As Joe and Drew have said, this is all speculation anyway and reminds me of the story of Chicken Licken.

Microsoft does not sell Windows in any flavor. They only license it. Check Control Panel > System > Read the Microsoft Software License Terms. It's a fairly lengthy document, but it might be worth your while to read it in its entirety. Under the End User License Agreement that you have accepted (yes, you did accept it) you have rights and Microsoft has rights. But in the end, Microsoft owns the software; users purchase a license to use it, even if that purchase price is included in the price of a PC/laptop/notebook/tablet/phone, etc.

In the case of Windows 10 and other experimental (beta) software, Microsoft offers the license for free, we must still accept the terms of the license in order to use the software, but it is still a license, and the software still belongs to Microsoft.

Microsoft can choose at any time to change their direction for the future of their software. Users pay for the license to use the software, but having a vote in Microsoft's decision making process is not part of that license purchase. We get to choose the software for which we purchase a license, and "vote" with our money. It's just that simple.

Create a fresh drive image before making system changes, in case you need to start over!

"The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem. Savvy?"—Captain Jack Sparrow "When you're troubleshooting, start with the simple and proceed to the complex."—M.O. Johns "Experience is what you get when you're looking for something else."—Sir Thomas Robert Deware. Unleash Windows

Yup, everyone is correct in their post's and it is all speculation and it's MS's License to do with as they wish. I think the point of the article was that "Free" may not be as "Free" as many people think in the end. After all, MS is a business and business's run on money, bottom line.

Create a fresh drive image before making system changes, in case you need to start over!

"The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem. Savvy?"—Captain Jack Sparrow "When you're troubleshooting, start with the simple and proceed to the complex."—M.O. Johns "Experience is what you get when you're looking for something else."—Sir Thomas Robert Deware. Unleash Windows

If you take an Image before you upgrade you can be right back where you started in less than an hour. Options, there are always options!

Thanks RG.
Actually I do a clone of my C drive once a month after making sure things are running smoothly, and I would do one immediately before a major upgrade like that if I decided to make that move.

The only thing I see different is the "Official SKU's". Everything else seems to have been covered a bunch of times in a bunch of places, and nothing has really changed that I can see.

Create a fresh drive image before making system changes, in case you need to start over!

"The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem. Savvy?"—Captain Jack Sparrow "When you're troubleshooting, start with the simple and proceed to the complex."—M.O. Johns "Experience is what you get when you're looking for something else."—Sir Thomas Robert Deware. Unleash Windows

Why should not be money involved? When did Microsoft turn into a company giving products away for free? How does this depart from what had been said before, where it was stated that the upgrade to Windows 10 would be free?

And how can people say that the upgrade is not free when it is. What is said to happen with future upgrades, which is not confirmed either way, isn't it just similar to what happened with upgrades from Vista to 7 and from 7 to 8?

I really don't understand the speculation and I have yet to see anything that substantiates the senseless media frenzy about this.